Residents of Uvwie and Warri South Local Government Area of Delta State, on Friday, stormed the streets to protest against the current scarcity of the new Naira notes.
The Delta protest began a few hours after angry demonstrators in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, razed a police station and vandalised a bank.
The protest in Delta forced some banks to hurriedly shut down and suspend activities.
Several market women barricaded the Warri-Sapele Road and NPA Expressway, bringing activities in the area to a halt.
The protesters also laid siege to the United Bank for Africa and Union Bank located near Main Market, Warri.
Traders, who carried placards and leaves, expressed regrets at their inability to sell their goods in the past few days.
The protesters also made bonfires of disused tyres along the ever busy roads.
Venting their anger against the cashless policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, they demanded that commercial banks release money to enable them to legitimately transact their businesses.
The traders were shouting “our fish dey spoil o”, our foods dey rotten” as the women moved from the Main Market axis of Warri Sapele Road to Delta Broadcasting Station located at the Edjeba axis of NPA Expressway in Warri South Local Government Area.
Security operatives tried to pacify the aggrieved traders but they insisted on collecting their money from banks.
One of the traders lamented that she stayed in shop all through Thursday without making a dime.
“Our children are hungry, we cannot sell, we cannot do transfer, we cannot withdraw our money. I stayed in shop throughout yesterday and sold nothing. People who want to buy things tried to transfer money but could not,” she said.
In October last year, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, announced the plan to redesign the N200, N500, and N1,000 notes, and asked Nigerians to deposit their old notes before January 31, 2023 when they would cease to be legal tender.
Although the deadline has been shifted to February 10, many Nigerians have found it difficult to obtain the new naira notes.
Point of Sales operators have also unofficially put their charge rate of N5,000 between N500 and N1,000.